P2W signs South Africa mining water purification deal

The company will clean AngloGold Ashanti mines' water lines of heavy metals, cyanide, arsenic, and other toxins.

P2W Ltd. (Pollution to Water), owned by CEO Palmach Zeevy, has signed its first contract in South Africa - a NIS 35 million deal with mining giant AngloGold Ashanti Ltd. (NYSE: AU; LSE; ASX: AGG; JSE; GSE: AGA) to clean mines' water lines of heavy metals, cyanide, arsenic, and other toxins.

The deal includes the construction of water treatment plants to filter out the toxins and turn them into gas or sludge, which can then be taken to proper sites, minimizing environmental damage. Zeevy says that P2W will use proprietary technology, developed over several years, which purifies the water by oxygenating the toxins and minimizes the use of chemicals.

"Our guiding principle is to avoid the need to get rid of hazardous chemicals that have accumulated in water lines through the use of other chemicals which cause new contamination. Our technology purifies the water of toxins, and lets the clean water return to nature without contaminants," Zeevy told "Globes".

Zeevy says that P2W's new business in South Africa is a water purification challenge, because of the extensive contamination of the country's groundwater caused by decades of mining. "South Africa has realized that it is sitting on a ticking time bomb. Its three aquifers are terribly contaminated and the matter has been at the top of the public agenda for two years. On one hand, mining is labor intensive, but it is polluting the drinking water, and there are no really good water purification solutions. The technology that we will install there over the next two years should help," he said.

Zeevy says that P2W is already in talks with companies in the Congo and in two other African countries to install its water purification systems. The company also plans to participate in a pilot to purify water sources contaminated by mining in Peru. "All of our water purification contracts are for NIS 35-40 million. We've marked Africa and South America as target markets for the coming years because of the need for new and green water purification technologies. The US and Canada also have huge mines, and we have something to offer them," he concludes.

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